Today the council announced that widening the M55 / Broughton roundabout and associated work wouldn’t go ahead. The previous plan to by-pass Broughton with a road from the roundabout east to Whittingham Lane and back to the A6 has also foundered several times.
The area north and east of Preston has some attractive countryside blighted by the continual spread of warehouses and offices. Building another road doesn’t seem a good idea. Widening the roundabout will only move the congestion elsewhere. Somehow the traffic should be fitted onto existing roads perhaps using the motorway and creating new junctions, restricting speeds during rush hours and perhaps using the hard shoulder.
Now that the government has removed building targets outlying housing projects should be stopped and more built in areas with ready made transport and employment and on brown field sites. The concept of distant commuting should be deterred, perhaps by congested roads. Then again most people are tired of government dictators and a more libertarian position is now expected.